1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an inflator for expanding and deploying an air bag mounted in a vehicle or the like by supplying the air bag with gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
One inflator of this kind includes a plurality of gas feed portions in a single casing (also referred to as a housing), for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-217055. In an inflator disclosed in this publication, gas feed portions include gas chambers (combustion chambers) formed in a casing, gas generating agents accommodated in the gas chambers, filter members surrounding the gas generating agents in the casing, and initiators (igniters) for igniting and burning the gas generating agents, respectively.
In the inflator of the related art described above, although partition members separate the casing into the gas chambers, the gas chambers communicate with one another via the filter members. Therefore, gases generated in the gas chambers in the casing (i.e., gases generated by igniting and burning the gas generating agents) affect one another. This makes it difficult to obtain a desired gas output characteristic.